Brunello di Montalcino is an Italian red wine produced in the vineyards surrounding the picturesque town of Montalcino located 30km south of Siena in the Tuscany wine region and is one of the most prestigious of all Italian wines. The wine is made exclusively from Sangiovese grapes grown in Montalcino. Brunello translates roughly as 'little dark one', the local name for Sangiovese Grosso, the large-berried form of Sangiovese.

The success and style of wine that we know today, a great deal of credit needs to be go to Ferruccio Biondi-Santi - a soldier of the Garibaldi campaigns. He saw the benefit of vinifying the Sangiovese grapes separately from other varieties. As at the time it was common practice to co-ferment different clones as well as both red and white grape varieties together. The wines were then aged for quite some time in barrel, some wines for 10 years or more, though the wines retained their freshness and vibrancy. Today there are almost 200 small winemakers and estates producing high-quality interpretations of this red wine.

Brunello's DOCG classifications request vineyards must be planted on hills with a good aspect, at altitudes not exceeding 600m. This limit in altitude is intended to ensure the grapes reach physiological ripeness and flavour; any higher and the meso-climate becomes unreliable. The climate in Montalcino is fortunately one of the warmest and driest in Tuscany, so achieving ripeness is seldom a problem for the grape growers of Brunello.

By law a Brunello di Montalcino, must be crafted from 100% Sangiovese and aged for at least four years and five years for 'riserva' style wines. The wine must spend at least two years in oak, and the wine bottled for another four months prior to being released onto the market. The elegance and structure of these wines - resulting from these strict laws - creates wines with a brilliant bouquet, dark berries with dried spices and floral notes, and the finest wines showing hints of earthiness with a full and balanced lingering finish.